Help:Established Standards/Card Design Rules
This section deals with the general card design standards on this Wikia (but that's why you're here anyway, right?). There are two parts to the Custom Cards rulebook: *Actual rules that shall be strictly enforced (however these are mostly common sense things). *Recommendations (or suggested guidelines), which are mostly as such and will not be heavily enforced. 'Reminder' It should be self-explanatory, but anything written in the general rules is also applicable here. 'Part 1: "Common sense" rules' These rules will be heavily enforced and subject to penalties should you break them. 'A. Make an attempt to design seriously.' When I say "design seriously", it does not mean that you MUST design cards that are suitable for the current metagame, whatever it may be at any given time, nor does it mean deviation from this rule will result in sanctions. The concept of "serious design" is subjective and depends on the individual in question based on their own preferences and experiences. Moreover, the game changes over time and design by nature is a subjective topic, however you still must put in some effort. So...please donʻt make cards that are literally meme cards or is clear that they are legitimately joke cards (ridiculous stats and effect text, nonsensical names, etc). I do not have an issue with you designing an archetype based on memes if theyʻre good and shows you at least put more than 1 minute designing them. 'B. Do not berate other users for their designs or suggestions.' ''Reviewer ''Guess what, not everyone is as savvy as you in understanding competitive Yugioh, nor do they share the same mentality as you thereof. (You know who you are, so cut the acting.) As stated above, everyone has a different opinion on design, which obviously changes based on Konami releases and playstyle preferences. Therefore, if someone makes a card that you deem is broken, '''DO NOT' be a jackass about it to them, either in page comments or their page', '''or else I will penalize you in the form of stripped privileges or suspension for a period of time. However, this does not mean that you cannot give them critique on how to improve / fix the cards. ''Designer ''While this rule protects you from getting uncivilized critique, it does not excuse you from receiving commentary on your cards via page comments or on your Talk page. You must be willing to accept critique on the page and adjust as necessary. '' Ultimately it is your design, however not fixing your stuff may lead to you getting a less-than-great reputation and likely ostracism by your fellow members. '' ''Lashing out at them and acting uncivil towards other members in turn will result in similar punishments. ''End At the end of the day, be tolerant of other people and their design preferences. We do not all think the same way you do. 'C. Card effects must be written in English (or translation provided thereof)' As already mentioned in the main rules, you need to write your stuff in English. '' 'Never assume that other members are able to understand Japanese or your native language, whatever that may be.' ''That being said, I am aware that English is not the primary language for many users (or even for native speakers, some have writing difficulties) so you will not be expected to be fluent nor have perfect grammar. If you must use Google Translate for it, then it's fine. You are permitted to provide the names of your card in another language (i.e. native tongue) or to post a translated version of the effect. Make sure it is accurate to your best knowledge. If it's anything but Japanese, please post them in the Lores section for your card. (Honestly speaking, we never use it for much anyway.) Using Google Translate or another translation program/site is usually a bad idea, but it isn't forbidden. Do check it on another site though to be certain that you are right. 'D. Do not post existing cards verbatim / without any changes.' I will back check this on Yugipedia or the original Yugioh Wikia and delete any direct copy/pastes. There are some Konami cards that are printed verbatim here, but they are solely for template testing. That in mind, remakes of existing cards are permitted. Make sure you add your user name in the title, then print the original name in the card template. This is to differentiate your version from other users and/or the original versions. 'Part 2: Recommendations / Suggested Guidelines' These rules will not be strictly enforced and again, are merely general design tips that you should '''probably' follow. You will not be penalized for any "violations" in here.'' If you need help understanding some of the stuff written here, among other things, please see the Cardmaker's Help Guide (though at the time of editing, it really needs updating). To reiterate what I've said regarding "standards" on this Wikia and card design... 'General card design' 'Level/Ranks' Original Level/Rank shouldn't be higher than 12 (or lower than -12 for Dark Synchro). Your effects can allow monsters to exceed Level 12 if needed. Rank 13 and above is iffy, even if they have appeared in ZEXAL twice. However, if your story or design calls for it, you can break this. Also remember that any monsters with an original Level or Rank of 0 have a condition that always treats them as a non-zero integer. Ask Konami why this is the case. 'Link Ratings' These shouldn't be lower than 1 and higher than 8. Given the whole point of Links and how they're structured, doesn't make much sense to give a Link Monster no markers and wasting your EMZ, but on the other end, we only got 8 Link Markers at the moment. I do not foresee them changing that anytime soon, but if it does, the templates will be modified. While there's no universal standard, you can assume that 1 Link Marker = 2 Levels/Ranks for everything else, so you can probably scale it like this if you'd like. 'Pendulum Scales' Keep them in the range of 0 to 13. It makes no sense to make a negative Scale (because no Level 0 monsters that can be Pendulum Summoned and we do not have any inherent Level 13+ monsters that would warrant needing Scale 14). However, this can be disregarded if your archetype has some weird gimmick of treating monsters as having higher Level/Rank or something beyond Level 12. Talk to me about it and weʻll see how to deal with the matter. (You ARE allowed to make cards with split Scales if you so choose, provided they fall within the limits.) 'Original ATK/DEF' Monsters should not have an original ATK/DEF higher than 5000 ATK/DEF (and also includes infinity). In a similar vein, a monster shouldn't have more than 10,000 combined original ATK/DEF. Do not use the excuse that Number C1000 / iC1000 break this; those are anime-only and Don Thousand is a bullshit villain. Of course, if it's for a fanfic where the antagonist is legitimately busted, then sure. However, you do have examples of busted villain monsters that stay within this range. If you feel the need to exceed these limits stat-wise, then bring it up to me and we can talk about it. 5000 is a very high amount already. This does not apply to monsters that can exceed this limit BY AN EFFECT. You may make cards that can exceed 5000 ATK or DEF through an effect (though please be reasonable). 'Using existing Types, Attributes, summon mechanics, etc.' The use of custom Attributes, Types, and/or subtypes/abilities, etc. is permitted. However, you '''MUST' let me know about it so the template can be updated (least for Attributes and Summon mechanics). Furthermore, you are responsible for updating the Type pages, etc. for them.'' Please check if one of the existing Types is sufficient for your designs before making a new one. I will only update the CardTable template for your customs; not the other ones. Do NOT update the table yourself, as it will break. 'General power scaling for card design.' In custom design, there are some "fan conventions" that are defined based on Konami cards to get a general power level. You may read a brief overview of them here. These rules do not constitute a "contract" in terms of card design and are not punishable if broken, nor shall your cards be deleted. I will not be harping on this too much and these are more of general suggestions, but members may recommend stat changes in comments (talk page) if something seems a bit broken. As mentioned beforehand, it is solely your decision as to make changes or not, but you risk ostracism and ridicule from other users if you don't at least acknowledge the critique given to you. 'OCG / official card grammar.' This should be at the same level as Konami's (proper punctuation and OCG terms), but it is understandable that not everyone has the same degree of proficiency, especially with the text changes that occur over time.' ' It does not have to be perfect, but do your best to make it as close as possible. Ideally, you should write in VRAINS PSCT (Series 10) as it is currently the standard of writing. However, Series 9 is perfectly acceptable, as is the use of hybrid PSCT (or in some cases, how YGOrganization formats the OCG text in compliance with PSCT). As you may notice, I alternate between this and "standard". Older styles are also accepted, but it is advised you write no earlier than late 5Ds / early ZEXAL. If you need help, feel free to ask or read the PSCT page for assistance. Other members are more than welcome to help you correct OCG, but leave a note on the comment/talk page in case there is anything amiss with the editing (i.e. alteration in the card's overall functions); you can work it out from there. 'Archetype/Series and generic design' We use the same definitions as the Yugioh Wikia / Yugipedia, but in case this isn't clear: *Archetypes are sets of cards that share a common string in their names that is referenced in at least 1 other card, either within their own effects or outside support / anti-support. *Series follow the same rules as archetypes, except not having the shared string explicitly mentioned in text for members. They may reference more generic restrictions such as specific Types, statlines, Levels, etc. *Generics aren't part of any archetype or series, thus being free to use in any Deck that can afford slots. 'Recommended limits for archetypes' Try to keep the archetyes at a max. of 15-20 cards so it's not overbearing for you or other members to look over for design improvements. Granted, anime/manga/fic archetypes will be much larger because popularity, marketing and other reasons (see HERO, Numbers, etc.), but try to keep them small. Series don't really have a recommended cap because they aren't as "restricted", but don't go crazy. 'Generics design' Put bluntly, I have no problems with you designing generics. While I am aware that many people don't like custom generics because there is a high potential for them to get broken (which happens), it is impossible to know what's coming down the road some time from now. As mentioned earlier on, please try to balance it out yourselves with whatever knowledge of cards we got now, but if it gets broken down the road with Konami designs, it isn't your fault. 'Navigation Templates' This is kind of a big deal considering how many cards exist on this Wikia, either as a collective summation of everyone's stuff or an individual user's contribution. Even though the |creator field will render a category that shows you everything, it is extremely tedious for other users to use this method to search all cards in a particular archetype and series. So...if you design a new archetype/series, please generate a navigation template for them too. You can find them as or While this isn't going to be penalized, please make it easier for you and other members by making a navigation template for your archetype/series. 'Instructions' *Open the following in another tab. *Create a new page called Template:(Your archetype/series) *Choose "Navbox" *Copy/paste the stuff in the "Coding" section, then modify it to your needs. You may change the colors if needed, but obviously change the rest of the content. **Do NOT remove the Category stuff at the bottom; you need that. **To make it easier on yourself, just make 2-3 sections; members, support and related (if applicable). Colors are changeable, though I kept it as white for archetypes and red for series. *Submit it. *To render the template, type the name enclosed by double curly brackets as shown above. Make sure you do this for all cards in the archetype/series, even if just related. 'More Advanced stuff' For those of you who wish to take it further, this page contains a more in-depth explanation of what would be considered "acceptable" in most Custom Card communities. Whatever I wrote there is applicable only for this Wikia and does not carry over in other places (unless they like my version over whatever's on the YCM Wikia). The guide is not a legal contract that you must follow for content here and (again), is simply recommendations. You may wish to follow it elsewhere to avoid ridicule from more elitist users, but it's up to you. Part 3: Miscellaneous Outside of general card designing and OCG writing, the rest of the rules written below are other things. 'Permissible content for cards.' Cards based on other franchises, such as Pokemon, MTG, CFV, Digimon, etc. are permitted. Make sure you have permission to use any pictures that you may wish to utilize (see image rules). Leaving a link to it under the card template or linking the source when you upload the picture will be sufficient. Do not blankly name your monster after another franchise character without modifiers. If you're using the images to make other cards that are unrelated to the franchise, then it's fine. Just don't claim you own the pictures (unless it's your own fan art or something). 'Fill in as many relevant boxes as possible before submission.' This includes having your creator field filled in with your username so it can be credited to you, and easier to find stuff. At the bare minimum, have the card's actual stats, Attributes and some effects. To attribute a card to your name, use |creator = (username). *It is set up to link to your Wikia userpage. Please make sure you spell your name correctly. *If your card was a collaboration, then use the |creator2 field for the other user. *If you are posting a card for a person who does not have a Wikia account, then use |creator_z. Use CardTable or CardTableA, though the former has custom mechanics added (latter is if you wish to copy/paste a bit from the Yugioh Wikia). If you wish to do Skill Cards, please use CardTableSkill for the time being. You don't need to add an image if you lack none; it will automatically render the default. 'Custom mechanics/ breaking precedence.' Cards that utilize custom mechanics and/or break precedence (i.e. cards with functions that currently do not exist in the actual game at present) are permitted. '' ''If there is no real precedence for a certain design in the TCG/OCG, you will not be told to edit it, nor shall your pages be edited. I've seen members who harp on this too much (and does end up as irritating) on YCM, the unaffiliated Wikia and elsewhere. Therefore, if your card breaks some precedence or flavor, it's fine. Unlike a few members on YCM (you know who you are; don't deny it), I am not hellbent on flavor as it has / will be broken by Konami sometime later. Just do what you feel is appropriate for your works. 'Images on cards' While it is preferred that you already have the card made with an image of your choice, I am perfectly aware that finding / creating suitable artwork is not always easy for a variety of reasons. As a result, written cards are perfectly acceptable, provided you use the template so it can be categorized correctly. Cards without pictures in the picture field being blank, but you did the rest of the card or fillers are also fine. In other words, there is no shame in not having a picture for your cards at the time of making the page. You can always add one at a later time. However, make sure you follow the rule on permissible content image-wise. I will be forced to ban you if an explicit image is found on your card. (Short form, don't post porn/graphic content for card art.)